Naim Lossless Streaming Roadmap Campaign

I suppose the fact that the CEO has posted twice on a Sunday does give an indication that the views of forum members, Naim enthusiasts if you like are welcome and relevant.

His response indicates that Naim are working on the capabilities we desire to have in our Naim streaming devices.

We in turn I suppose have indicated that if Naim do not provide these capabilities quickly they could lose our custom to alternative brands which I'm sure he takes on board. 

The only question left them would appear to me to be the fact whether these new advances in lossless streaming will be retro applicable to the current streamers. An indication that this will be the case would keep a few of us sleeping soundly in our beds at night. 

SJB

SJB +1

i suspect this might appear on an agenda before too long... Not perhaps at the top of it, or even near the top, but on it..

i also welcome Paul's participation on here, on what is probably a bit of tight rope walk for him.

+100

Thanks Harry,

I agree with your point above and also the principle behind a reasonably worded and appropriate roadmap, stuck between both camps.

I bought the NDS based purely on its musical talent, nothing more or less, no harm in seeing what is on the horizon as some of us may want to upgrade even further and seeing the plans/costs will help some build a plan to that purchase point in that time frame.

For me I have an awful feeling that second 555DR and amplifier upgrade itis is building for about a year or twos time ....

I'm really astonished about the comments of some forumer that are pretending that Naim is obliged to bring every new service/feature to every piece of gear ever produced. Look at what happened when Naim announced Spotify for existing streamers: some forumers instead of being happy that the existing streamers could use the new service, where angry because they couldn't have also aptX Bluetooth !

Open your eyes: most of the Naim clients have at home Naim pre/amps that came on the market 15 years ago and are still up to date both aesthetically and technically. Look at Ebay and you will see that only used Naim products (even pieces of kit that are 10 years old) are sold for about 50% of list price and if I want to "DRise" my 2006 Supercap I have to pay "just" 20% of the list price.

There is no other HIFI company in the world that offer the same "obsolescence" guarantee and if for technology reasons there is not the possibly of upgrading a product (or if it is possible only investing an amount of money that is near the price of an existing product) you can't blame Naim If they just say no !

Disclaimer: I'm not a Naim shareholder, neither a Naim employee but just a happy Naim costumer

I guess what I am doing here is only reinforcing what I have already said but it seems worth doing.

I have been a Naim customer for over 30 years, primarily for the SQ biit secondarily because I trust them to never let me down and over those years they never have. I suspect that is why I believe what I am told in this context.

The CEO has told us what he feels able to. I personally believe him when he says 'we will' and experience suggests I'm right.

Look at DR. Naim never had a responsibility to make that a retrofit  They did and that is what makes them different.

Relatively small-scale specialist Hi-Fi manufacturers like Naim are becoming victims of rapidly advancing digital sound technology.

Apple's iTunes is a work of constantly evolving visual and functional beauty because it has a large dedicated workforce and buckets of dollars being poured into it. One can only hope that the likes of Naim can 'keep up'.

The days of a specialist manufacturer making a living off a range of good amplifiers for several years are gone.

John.

John, interesting, I dint think the technology is particularly changing. The web services we are talking about here have been in reasonably common useage in commerce for last ten years or so.. So in that sense it is quite a mature technology at it's core and developer skills are readily available.

The thing I feel is changing at quite a pace is how people 'consume' music... And I guess Naim can't help but be impacted by this by the very nature of what they produce... and that plays to your last point I beleive.

Simon

Dear John,

Given that iTunes is continually evolving and improving platform - one that is already sonically more than simply adequately fine - why not let Apple carry on doing their development and hitch a MAC computer to a good DAC like the V1 or the nDAC for two good examples of the type.

Though I agree that an NDS is a clear step up in sonic quality, I would still stick with the MAC DAC arrangement simply on the basis that in five years time the MAC will have evolved into something that is still at or near the leading edge of the day, while an NDS will be the same machine with some software enhancements. Cost wise it is clear that if something new in streaming comes along that is beyond the technology of the NDS or the MAC, then it will be significantly easier to afford a more capable MAC than an updated NDS.

I have not attempted any lossless streaming so far, but eventually it will be a potentially interesting source of music for me. As it is I can listen to [lossy] radio streams via iTunes, and directly from the radio senders own websites in many cases. I would hope that eventually the best of radio streaming will be by lossless methods.

ATB from George

George, I heartily recommend you dip your toe in the lossless stream..

Our little interchange a month back on Handel would have been even better exchanging recordings via a streaming service.. I really think it's a massive step forward for the music lover... It really is so liberating to the extent you sort of feel guilty and spoilt..

Simon

Dear Simon,

Is there any way that I can experiment via the internet and a webpage with my MAC?

At this stage it is really a question of experimenting for me. Dipping a toe into the lossless stream as it were!

ATB from George

George absolutely. Go to the Qobuz site and download the Mac OSX player. You should be able to use USB from that into your V1. I think they are offering a free one or two month subscription.

S

Dear  Simon,

Thank you very very much for this straight forward and simple advice!

This evening, I'll do the experiment and report back here with luck!

Any thanks from George 

I found a one month free subscription - It is totally wonderful. 

G

Well I am listen at 320 mnps to the famous Don Giovanni rehearsals with Klemperer at Abbey Road. I have long since wanted to have a listen to this fascinating glimpse behind the scenes. I have the actual formal finished recording - one of the true great recordings of the work - and always wanted to hear behind the finished work!

However I have downloaded the Quobus player installer, and my MAC will not install it because it is not from the Apple store! I am a computer numpty, and so have no idea what to do next to get the player installed!

Please help!

But I do like the massive depth of the music available. It must be huge if this famous rehearsal recording is on the system!

ATB from George

George go to your Mac setting, top left Apple icon, click this select system preferences.

A box will appear in your screen. Top line 6 from the left is Security & Privacy, select this.

At the bottom is an Allow apps downloaded from tab, select Anywhere or Mac App Store and identified developers, this will allow non Apple downloads to load.

It may ask you once to allow this item say yes.

Go to System Preferences/Security and Privacy/General and you should see an option to allow non-appstore apps to be loaded. I am a bit surprised that your settings didn't give you a one-off override option when you when to install Quobuz, though.

(edit: Dan43 beat me to it.)

Got it going!

Rather good so far!

ATB from George

Not for long!

I closed it, so as to check I could open it, and now I cannot find it!

As I say computers are not my strong point!

ATB from George

Is it not in your Mac Launchpad area .. An icon of a round control with blue background with words Qobuz Desktop underneath it?

if you can't see it straightaway, open Launchpad - and type Qo in the search spyglass at the top of the launchpad page.

Dear Simon,

Yes I can get the Quobus desktop open but it has reverted to the lossy playing rather than the lossless!

I cannot find how to get it going in lossless. But I mix with computers like oil with water. Stir it up and all you a get is filthy sticky emulsion!

I am content with the quality of the lossy to be honest, but it does try my patience with my own stupidity!

ATB from George

Back to iTunes George, or in my case bung a cd in.

To be fair, this is probably not Quobus or MAC's fault, but I am not going any further with this. 

Qubobus is in French, which is fine but not ideal, and there is an irredeemable five second cross-fade between tracks which is completely un-removable, and equally impossible to accept in music where gapless is required. And the tracks are completely jumbled.

Surely these things should be fixed as correct default settings.

Once again iTunes carries the day with sensible defaults and intuitive changes to the settings that even this idiot can do without someone to hold his hand.

Sorry, but I cannot wrestle with Quobus, or find the will to persist.

Anyway, the reason for experiments is find a result, and the result is that Quobus is not for me.

Soory for taking up you time.

ATB from George

George, don't settle for second best 

Assuming you setup an account and  logged in? Your Mac should remember this. kind of like your Apple ID.  It then knows your language and it gives you access to lossless If you have requested that subscription type.

On the app top left options on the app

Qobuz Delsktop -> Preferences 

then in select under Music Playing "CD quality (lossless)" ie the right hand option

or alternatively type the cmd button plus "," as a short cut and then select CD quality

Look forward to your thoughts on Grmaphone magazine highlights that are published on Qobuz.

Simon